


Half - Alive

by diamondgore



Series: Overindulged Paranoia [5]
Category: House of X - Fandom, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Dress Up, F/M, Fashion Design, but spoilers for like house of x and dawn of x, no dark tones, sad n sexy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26401159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diamondgore/pseuds/diamondgore
Summary: Moira and En Sabah Nur can no longer exist without the presence of the other.
Relationships: En Sabah Nur/Moira Mactaggert
Series: Overindulged Paranoia [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1827157
Kudos: 5





	Half - Alive

**Author's Note:**

> This quite literally took a year to write, but I hope you enjoy it! I just wanted to write something dramatic.

Despite having only settled down in Krakoa recently, En Sabah was already planning big changes to his life. The first thing he had to do was get rid of the armor he wore on daily. It was threatening and it scared the younger mutants and made him still seem like the enemy they had fought all that time ago. 

He would still keep the armor, of course. It was a necessary evil, but he did not need to channel the celestial energy constantly. So, he had the new and upcoming fashion designers on Krakoa tailor make outfits for him. It took a full day to take all of En Sabah’s measurements, and another two weeks for them to tailor the outfits. For most people, they would wait up for a month, but this was a Celestial who had ordered their clothes. The person that was tasked with dressing him was none other than Jumbo Carnation, and _oh_ how Jumbo wanted to adorn En Sabah in everything from light airy shahtoosh to soft plush cervelt. 

En Sabah had told him nothing of what he preferred in clothing, but everyone knew that he had to carry an air of royalty. There were deep jewel colors, gold threads, and silk that had been ordered especially for him. En Sabah did not care about the price tag, he could pay, in more ways than just money. Nothing was stopping him from the extravagant and the ornate. He only needed to look regal, in front of the others.

His personality was larger than his body. It would take front and center any conversation, the only person who could come close to rivaling it thus far was only Magneto ruling his palace in purple and red. 

Jumbo Carnation had finished preparing the clothing in less than two weeks. A full runway collection for En Sabah, with all the colors rich, deep colors of the rainbow. There was fur trim, and hand made shoes, with symbols of the occult painted so gently onto them. Jumbo had not slept for a fortnight, working around the clock out of sheer excitement. He could not wait to see En Sabah in his full glory. 

Jumbo Carnation hand-delivered the clothing wrapped in gold-tipped paper. He did not cut any corners, for En Sabah. He waited to see the look on En Sabah’s face as he unwrapped the gift of clothing and accessories. En Sabah had a small, almost faint smile on his face as he saw the rich colors of the first few pieces.

“I assume there’s more.” He said dryly, before placing the package on his bed.

“I want you to try these on at first,” Jumbo explained pulling out the top items and laying them out on the bed. “These are the simple outfits that you can start off with. The rest are a little more intricate.”

En Sabah complied. He tried on suits in shades ranging from deep greys to more saturated crimsons. He liked how they were draped on his body. Soon there was clothing covering every inch of the expansive room that En Sabah inhabited. Everything from dress shirts to dresses to capes. There were so different combinations and accessories that Jumbo Carnation had picked for him, and honestly, En Sabah could probably not pick a favorite from his leisurewear as even a simple shirt was tailored exactly to his thick muscular body. It was a body crafted by a God because En Sabah himself was God.

However…if he was forced, one of the ceremonial outfits he was given by Jumbo Carnation would more likely be his favorite. It was a simple outfit, only white cotton with a few threads of gold running through it to give it some shine. It was a tunic, definitely inspired by the fashion that En Sabah was more used to. There was a belt with his signature A on it, it was made of brown leather and embellished with brilliant sapphire. It wrapped right underneath his waist, and there was a glorious headpiece to finish off the outfit. It was gold twisted into the shape of a circle, adorned with more sapphire. Jumbo Carnation wanted to put it on En Sabah as the piece de resistance. It was a gentle and simple maneuver as En Sabah was seated patiently.

There was a single knock on the door as Jumbo finished placing the headpiece on top of En Sabah’s head. He did not move, but simply said, “Answer the door.”

And Jumbo Carnation did just that, he walked to the door, and pressed the small button on the wall to open it up. There was a woman dressed in all black velvet cloak, covering her head and arms, with a mask upon her face. The mask was a silver mirror, with only slits for the eyes. He could not tell who it was, nor was he going to guess. She stepped inside but said nothing, staying silent for her own protection.

“I think your concubine is here.” He joked to En Sabah, they seemed to be on friendly terms after an hour and a half of close body contact. “Shall I leave?”

“Concubine…” He paused to process the information. He turned his head to see the woman, “Of course. Please come back later so we can continue this. I’ll have Celeste contact you to schedule a meeting. Do leave the clothes although, I have enjoyed what I have tried on so far.”

Jumbo Carnation bowed slightly, after nodding in agreement. “I will attempt to see you soon.”

“Be well,” Apocalypse said before Jumbo Carnation left the room.

There was a click to inform the two left in the room that the coast was clear for both of them to finally be free of the outside world. The woman stepped forward and removed the mask from her face, revealing her soft features. She wasn’t a young woman, but she still had some youth in her. It was the hopefulness that radiated inside of her. She undid the belt around her cloak so she could let it drop to the floor. She shook her head to give volume to her reddish-brown hair after it had been trapped underneath such thick fabric for so long.

“*-[A]-*.” She said, clearly.

“Moira.” His face was neutral, and he did not move from his seat. “I am glad to see you, however, that was a risky move. What if Jumbo had recognized you?”

“I know. I just wanted to see you again.” She looked over at the clothing strewn about on the bed. “You and Jumbo had a fun day today I assume?”

“I wanted clothing that was…less threatening.” He rose from his seat and made his way to her.

Moira threw herself at him, hugging him as tightly as she could with her small arm span. She spent most of her time in hiding, locked away from the world because she couldn’t let them know that she was alive, that she was a mutant. What she wanted was a Utopia for the both of them, for all mutants, and her death was a sacrifice she was willing to make for it.

“I like the headpiece. I think it’s very regal.” He could feel her smile against his cheeks. 

He wrapped his arms around her tightly. “Tell me, how are you these days, Moira?”

“You know, as always trying to be fair with Charles and Erik. They just don’t understand what is at stake with here. They want to bend to every whim of Mystique.” Moira let go of En Sabah and then threw herself onto En Sabah’s excessive bed. “Not like us. We understand.”

“What is she doing?” There was a hint of curiosity, always unsure why Moira hated the idea of Destiny being back. She was like all other mortals, easily manipulated, easily messed with telepathically. 

“Mystique is threatening Charles again for Destiny. I have been trying to tell him to just let it go but apparently she’s threatening to hurt other mutants…” Moira laid down on the bed looking up at the sky. She grabbed at some of the ties that were unwrapped and twisted them in her hand, using them to fidget. “She doesn’t get it. I don’t understand how she can be so selfish when I sacrifice my life every day for Krakoa. She refuses to sacrifice one person.”

“Interesting…” En Sabah said, examining her body language.

“What is?”

“You are afraid, Moira,” En Sabah explained, as he put the headpiece down on the table. “You feel guilty.” 

Moira played with the silk fabric of the ties, twisting them and tangling them in her long fingers. “You’re making assumptions.” 

“You deny Mystique her one true love, Destiny. You think you are awful for the act of self-preservation, to lie to her.” En Sabah gazed down upon Moira and saw how her panic was reflected in the tightening of ties in her hands. “The only solution using your logic is to deny yourself love. You deny yourself me, not realizing that I, too, am being cheated.” 

He did not hate Moira, not one part of him did. All he did for thousands of years was love her. All he did was wait for her, to reincarnate from her last life. He had other lovers, other romances but they were just to placate him until he could be with her once again. There was jealousy that sat in his stomach unmoving, knowing that she preferred Krakoan peace over his chaos. If she had wanted to be with him as much as he craved her, she would have let Xavier know that he was in on Krakoa’s biggest secret.

Their love was something sacrificial for the benefit of everyone else. En Sabah would burn this island down too in order to bring that love with her. He understood Mystique’s plight. There is a part of him that forgave Moira for this. 

“You do not like hearing the truth.” En Sabah said, “But you know how this life ends. Both you and I have had interactions with precognitive mutants.”

“I do not come to you to hear what I already know.” Moira said, her eyes listless but wanting, “I come to you for poetry and sweet words. I come here for you, and only for _you_.”

That much was true, En Sabah knew how to sweet talk a woman into forgetting her name. He had that softness to him, that Xavier did not. Xavier manipulated in harsh realities, but En Sabah romanticized it all. She let go of the tie in her hands and reached out to him. Every day she denied herself her lover, they never really talked about their past life, and how he was the only man who understood her pain.

They left that life to the still silence of their room when they laid in bed together. There were more important things than the past, but those who forget it are doomed to repeat it, and they had such a tangled up past that it seemed obscene to let it hang in the air unmoving.

And how could En Sabah not oblige Moira’s tender touch? He had suffered enough for a thousand lifetimes. He could allow himself this momentary slip of human emotion for Moira. As vile as the human race was, they knew tenderness better than any mutant ever could. They were allowed it from birth.

He walked to her, taking her hand and in a swift moment pulled her off of his bed. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her deeply--how a woman should be kissed, a delicate rose. Moira knew tenderness, as she had lived her life masquerading as a human once, and it showed in the way she kissed him.

En Sabah would never be her first love, never be that pure sweetheart who would purchase flowers on Valentine’s day, or that would give her his jacket in the pouring rain but he would be the only one she could never forget. 

In this lifetime or the next. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr [@diamongore](https://diamondgore.tumblr.com), and on twitter [@goremeat! ](https://twitter.com/goremeat)
> 
> Maybe leave me a comment if you like it?


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